


A Pirate's Life for Me

by Fandoms_are_my_lifestyle



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Isle of the Lost (Disney) is a Terrible Place, Jay is a wharf rat, M/M, Multi, Pirate!Jay, United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect, that's it that's the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-01 21:45:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20264995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandoms_are_my_lifestyle/pseuds/Fandoms_are_my_lifestyle
Summary: "Jay’s hanging out in the Crow’s Nest of the aft mast on the Lost Revenge, waiting for his Captain and First Mate to return from their latest excursion for supplies on the garbage barges sent from Auradon, when Gil swings up to face him."- anyways, Freddie told CJ, who told Harriet who told Gatson Jr. who told me, that Jafar has demanded you meet him at the Bargain Castle. Apparently, he has an offer for you - one he says you can’t refuse.'"(Or: Descendents 1, but Jay is one of Uma's crew instead of Mal's.)





	A Pirate's Life for Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Anonymous_Username](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous_Username/gifts).

> Semi-inspired by [this textpost](https://bunny-lou.tumblr.com/post/165332074922/okay-but-please-consider-au-where-carlos-is-part) about Carlos being one of Uma's crew but REALLY inspired by [Anonymous_Username](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous_Username/pseuds/Anonymous_Username) who is awesome and I love her. 
> 
> All information not in the movies is taken from the Descendents Wiki.

It starts, as most bad things in Jay’s life start, with a summons from Jafar.

Jay’s hanging out in the Crow’s Nest of the aft mast on the _ Lost Revenge _, waiting for his Captain and First Mate to return from their latest excursion for supplies on the garbage barges sent from Auradon, when Gil swings up to face him.

“Heya, Jay!” Gil says cheerfully. Gil’s one of Jay’s favorites in Uma’s crew - he’s not the smartest, and he doesn’t always say the right thing, but he’s trustworthy and honest and those are both good things in Jay’s book. Gil’s also fiercely loyal to Uma and the rest, which means Jay’s got his back. That’s how it works.

“- anyways, Freddie told CJ, who told Harriet who told Gaston Jr. who told _ me, _ that Jafar has demanded you meet him at the Bargain Castle. Apparently, he has an offer for you - one he says you can’t refuse.”

Jay looked at Gil, carefully schooling his disbelief behind a neutral expression. His father summoning him? That was never a good sign. Especially not on Maleficent’s turf. He was a wharf rat; going anywhere near the territory of the daughter of Maleficent, Uma’s sworn enemy, was as good as a death sentence. 

“And what does our lovely captain have to say about these summonses, hmm?” Jay asked finally. He had no doubt that his captain had already heard of the situation; the walls of the Isle had ears, after all. If Uma said to go, he would go. If not…

Gil shrugged. “She said to go. Bring back any information that could be useful, I think? And also something about food… Although that may just have been her telling Harry to get her something, I don’t know.” He scratched his head, hanging on the ladder of the Crow’s Nest with one hand and swaying gently with the wind. “She’s in the captain’s quarters with Harry, if you want I could-”

“No, definitely not,” Jay says, flashing a smirk at Gil. It’s the one he uses to get what he wants from people around the Isle, along with coy winks and light fingers, and even though Jay knows Gil’s been claimed he can’t resist the temptation to lean in close to his best friend as he whispers, “We wouldn’t want to disturb them, now would we?”

Jay stands and backflips off the mast, letting Gil’s laugh follow him like the wake in the sea.

* * *

_ The first time Jay meets the daughter of Ursula, he tries to steal her necklace. _

_ He fails. _

_ He fails because a boy in a ripped red shirt and eyeliner catches his hand tight, forces Jay’s hand away from his prize, and whispers threateningly in Jay’s ear, “I wouldn’t try that if I were you, laddie.” _

_ Jay looks into the crazy eyes of Harry Hook and feels a rush in his stomach, low and heady. _

_ Two weeks later, he’s promoted: he’s Uma’s third in command. _

_ Uma’s thief. _

* * *

“You four have been chosen to go to a different school,” Maleficent announces regally, pausing for dramatic effect, “in Auradon.”

Jay feels his heart drop into the pit of his stomach. Auradon? He can’t go to Auradon, especially not with this crew. He’s standing apart from the other three teenagers, keeping a careful divide between himself and Mal’s gang. Jay’s a wharf rat, one of Uma’s crew, and that makes the three villain kids standing to his right Jay’s enemies. He’s in dangerous territory now.

The other three instantly start voicing disagreements, and Jay feels a flash of relief. If the other three say no, he can get away from this. Or better yet, he can go, and bring Uma, Harry, and Gil with him. They could rule Auradon together. Sail every sea. He and Gil could go cliff diving into actual water instead of being thrown against the rocks at the edge of the Isle.

As soon as the arguments have started, however, they are silenced by Maleficent. She shows her daughter her place, or so it seems, what with the glowing green eyes and the mind-meld thing they seem to do, and Jay would feel bad if he wasn’t trying to figure out his fastest way out of this stinkhole. He has to report to his Captain.

“You will go, you will find the fairy godmother, and you will bring me back the magic wand,” Maleficent says, lounging on her chair like a queen, and Jay freezes. The wand… So that’s what Maleficent was after. It made sense, at least. 

Jay slips quietly away from the group, ducking out the window and climbing to the roof before Jafar could notice and try to stop him from leaving. He jumps nimbly from roof to roof, making his way towards his ship as he mulls over Maleficent’s mission in his mind. He’s not sure why Maleficent had chosen to reveal her scheme in front of him, but he’s glad she did. 

His loyalties lie elsewhere, after all, and the wand will make a nice prize for his captain when he gets back home.

* * *

Jay sits in the corner of the limo, body deliberately loose despite the terse thoughts running through his mind. Mal is playing with a remote, Evie is fixing her makeup, and Carlos is excitedly stuffing food down his throat, but Jay sits motionless. His eyes flick back and forth between the kids in front of him, the door, and the front window. 

There’s no turning back now.

The entrance to Auradon grows closer and Jay takes a steadying breath. He is the best thief known to the Isle of the Lost. He is the Second Mate to the Captain of the _ Lost Revenge _. He is Jay Jafar, djinn son of the former Grand Vizier of Agrabah, and he is as evil as they come. He can handle a few pretty people in fancy clothing. 

They exit the limo to sunshine and fanfare and Jay has to hold back a flinch. Everything is bright and colorful here, and the music is loud and everyone is talking and -

The Prince is speaking. 

“It is so good to finally meet you all,” he says diplomatically, and Jay knows immediately that this guy has been trained to lead for the better part of his life. The guy was probably getting speech lessons in a golden castle while Jay learned to steal the bracelets off of pretty girls’ wrists on the streets of the Isle.

He doesn’t resent Ben, not really. But he thinks of his Captain and his crew, starving and fighting to survive on the docks day in and day out, and he feels a spark of anger in the pit of his stomach. 

Anger is good. Anger will help him accomplish his mission, will get him back to his crew. Anger will push him to return to Uma, Harry, and Gil. Anger will get him back where he belongs.

He follows along behind the rest of the Isle kids and the Prince, tuning out the talking around him and barely reacting to anything, even when the De Vil boy jumps into his arms after Ben changes the statue from man to beast. Nothing can stop the thoughts spinning in his head. 

He’s going to get that wand, get back to the Isle, and free his crew if it’s the last thing he does. 

* * *

_ Uma, Harry, Jay, and Gil spend months fixing up the ship once they win it from Captain Hook. _

_ The ship was nearly destroyed in the race but Uma doesn’t care. She swears they’ll get it off the ground and into the water in no time, and they believe her. _

_ It takes almost a year, but they finally get it in semi-livable conditions, and they spend that first night on the ship. Uma, Harry, and Gil take the Captain’s quarters and the Berth, respectively, and Jay - _

_ Jay heads up to the crow’s nest. _

_ He’s always been a fan of high places, preferring to stay on the roof of his father’s shop to his shelf until the cold of the winter chased him back inside. The crow’s nest is a bit cramped, but not uncomfortable, and Jay figures that at some point he’ll string a hammock along the mast and really make the space his, but for now he curls up with his back to the hard wood of the nest’s walls and lets the gentle rocking of the boat lull him to sleep. _

_ It’s the best sleep he’s had in years. _

* * *

The first night they spend in Auradon, Jay can’t sleep. 

The room is too big and too stationary compared to his nest in the mast, and Jay lies awake in his too-soft bed and tries not to claw at his own skin. It’s alien and uncomfortable and Jay can’t stand it. 

When he rolls off his bed, De Vil raises his head to stare at him, and Jay silently curses. He’d thought the other boy had been asleep. 

Turning his back on the other villain boy, he rhythmically stripped the bed of its overly soft comforter and sheets. Discarding the comforter, Jay placed the sheet out over the carpeted floor and laid down on top of it, sighing in relief. The floor was still too stationary for Jay’s liking, but at least it didn’t make him feel as though he was drowning in pillows. 

His breathing evened out and Jay began to relax until he heard movement behind him. De Vil had laid his own comforter out on the floor and was arranging it into a sort of nest shape. The other boy laid down and turned his back to Jay.

“I’ll watch your six if you watch mine,” the other boy mumbled, and Jay grunted in response. Despite his terse reaction, he couldn’t keep a hint of a smile from his face. 

Carlos was keeping guard for him. They may not have been on the Isle anymore, but Jay knew that offer for what it was. It was a dangerous offer to make, especially on the Isle; people he knew had been seriously hurt or killed for less.

On the Isle, watching someone’s six was code for **trust**.

* * *

Time passes. 

Mal uses a love potion and starts dating the prince, then actually maybe starts to fall for him, and Jay thinks of Harry, who had never meant to fall for their Captain but had done so anyway. He thinks of Gil, who loves both Harry and Uma but doubts he’ll ever truly deserve either. He thinks of Uma and he sees Mal, idealistic and strong and steady in the face of danger. Jay is not yet loyal to Mal, not in the way he is to Uma, but he can see why they never got along in the first place. They’re too similar, these two leaders with their eyes on the prize and their hearts guarded closely. 

Evie is the most interesting to Jay. She wears her heart on her sleeve more than the other VKs do, but that doesn’t stop her from being manipulative and kick-ass when she wants to be. Jay sometimes thinks she’s a little scary, with the amount of control she has over her own body, but that’s beside the point.

De Vil slowly goes from being De Vil in Jay’s mind to being _ Carlos _, and Jay isn’t really sure how it happens but he starts to trust the other boy. Carlos is smart and witty and a little bit awkward, and he’s got scars Jay’s only seen in passing but knows deep down within himself, and suddenly the other boy is imprinted on Jay’s heart. He reminds Jay of Gil, even if he is a less happy version of the pirate. Both Gil and Carlos have an excitement for the world, a need to touch and experience and understand, and it fills Jay’s heart with protective warmth whenever he sees it. 

Time passes, and the four assimilate more into this new land and school they’ve been forced to call their own. Jay joins the tourney team for lack of a better thing to do, and he finds himself enjoying it. Carlos joins the AV club. Mal picks up art. 

Time passes, but Jay doesn’t forget the family he left behind.

* * *

_ They pick up members of their crew as the years go on. _

_ There’s Lagan and Derelict, the children of Flotsam and Jetsam. They were practically a given, considering their parents’ devotion to Uma’s mother, but they make good guards and lackeys. _

_ Clay Clayton is a bit of a buffoon and doesn’t always think before he acts, but he’s loyal to Uma. They’d once rescued him from being attacked by the wild dogs that roamed the outskirts of the Isle, after he’d been sent out by his father to “hunt”. He sleeps in the berth now, and doesn’t go home much. _

_ Jade Jafar is Jay’s cousin. He’d vouched for her placement on the crew, and she’d proved her worth tenfold. She was one of the best thieves on the isle, after all - second only to Jay - and she proved her loyalty to Uma in bounds. _

_ There are others, of course - some who come and go, some who stay only for a night, some who stay forever - but to Jay, they are all family. _

_ After all, family on the isle is not born, but made. _

* * *

It’s Coronation Day.

It’s Coronation Day, and that means it’s go time.

They have a plan, and it’s a good plan. As far as things go, at least. They’re going to get that wand, open that barrier, and go back home. 

And then?

Jay knows what he should do. He should steal the wand from Mal, bring it back to Uma, and leave the isle in the dust. He should do what he set out to do in the beginning of this mission. 

But now, as everything rises to a climax, Jay feels lost. He wants to see his crew again, but he honestly can’t imagine going back to the Isle. He can’t do it anymore; the thought of going back to starve and fight and steal makes his skin crawl. 

(He doesn’t mind the stealing, can still feel the itch under his skin, but it’s the thought of going back and starving again. Of having to face Jafar again, having to adhere to his demands. Of sending Carlos back home after spending nights staring at the scars that woman left on him, searing the pattern into Jay’s eyelids while the other boy sleeps.)

He is loyal to Uma, but he doesn’t see how he could possibly go back.

But then…

They choose Good.

They choose good and they choose Auradon and Jay finds himself choosing Mal, and he only feels a little bit bad about it. They choose to stay, to dance, and Jay looks at these new friends he’s made and he smiles.

Uma was wrong about Mal. Mal isn’t heartless and cold. She’s devoted and strong and beautiful, and she makes Ben really happy. 

Evie looks radiant, dancing with Doug. She’s found the person she wants herself to be here in Auradon, and that person is sweet and caring and _ good. _She’s happy, and that makes Jay happy. 

And Carlos… 

Jay looks at Carlos and Carlos looks at Jay, and a warmth spreads in Jay’s chest. He doesn’t know what that warmth means, or if Carlos feels it too, but for tonight he lets the warmth spread throughout his body and he relishes in it.

He holds out his hand to Carlos, sweeping into a mocking bow.

“Care to dance?”

And that’s the end.

* * *

_ (Except it’s not. _

_ It’s not the end, because the next day there’s a knock on Ben’s door, and he opens it to see Jay. Jay, who sweeps inside with a disarming grin and splays himself out on one of the chairs in Ben’s office and says, “I want to tell you a story about pirates.”. _

_ That is how he gets his crew off the Isle. _

_ Jay has his family and his new friends, and they chose good. All of them. _

_ Their story is only beginning.) _

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell with me on tumblr: [fandoms-are-my-lifestyle](http://fandoms-are-my-lifestyle.tumblr.com/)


End file.
